Stratos Gerakakis

Winter is an Earth-like planet with two major differences: conditions are semi artic even at the warmest time of the year, and the inhabitants are all of the same sex. Tucked away in a remote corner of the universe, they have no knowledge of space travel or of life beyond their own world. And when a strange envoy from space brings news of a vast coalition of planets which they are invited to join, he is met with fear, mistrust and disbelief.

(From the book’s back cover)

I barely had enough patience to finish this book. I wonder how come it got both the Nebula and the Hugo awards.

What was so special about the a single man trying to convince a newly discovered planet to join the Ekoumen (from the Greek word “οικουμένη”)? It could have been vastly more interesting, but the pace and the subject matter of the character conversations were a complete turn off for me. I couldn’t wait for the book to finish. Good thing it was a short one.